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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24305425">fever dream</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuzuIceCream/pseuds/YuzuIceCream'>YuzuIceCream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>GOT7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, skeletal tags for now but more rs/characters will be added, the tokyo ghoul x demon slayer x got7 crossover no one asked for, u don't need to read the manga to read this fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:54:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,396</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24305425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuzuIceCream/pseuds/YuzuIceCream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>And Mark, Mark shouldn't feel this safe, lying in the arms of a predator.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Im Jaebum | JB/Mark Tuan, Park Jinyoung/Jackson Wang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>fever dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>as the title suggests this was a fever dream caused by binge reading Tokyo Ghoul and demon slayer. I hope you'll enjoy this fic and please overlook any grammar/spelling errors. comments are greatly appreciated ! :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bells hanging by the door chimed as Jaebeom walked into the cafe. </p><p> </p><p>It was late, and the cafe was also nearing closing time. Mark was sitting behind the counter, and Jaebeom had to hide a smile as he watched Mark startle, his chin slipping from where it had been pressed precariously against the flat of his palm. Mark’s eyes darted towards the door and suddenly he was scrambling onto his feet, very busy with arranging the disposable coffee cups and syrup nozzles in front of him.  </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom watched in amusement as Mark resolutely tried to avoid eye contact with him, not even glancing up as Jaebeom reached the counter. </p><p> </p><p>“Hi I’d like-” </p><p> </p><p>“One americano, double shot, no milk, no sugar?” Mark cut across Jaebeom, his head snapping up immediately, his mouth falling open in a “o” as he realised what he just said. </p><p> </p><p>“Memorised my coffee order?” Jaebeom smiled as he took out his wallet. Mark was blushing furiously by now, his cheeks loud and red, not at all like the delicate spots of colour that Jaebeom was accustomed to seeing on the people he associated with. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re the only customer that comes at this time. It’s easy to remember your order”, Mark muttered.</p><p> </p><p>True, Jaebeom thought as Mark busied himself preparing Jaebeom’s drink. Situated in a small neighbourhood with a mostly elderly population, it wasn’t surprising that Jaebeom would be the only person visiting the cafe at this time. </p><p> </p><p>“Anyway, I’ve had your coffee order memorised for weeks. You know that”, Mark grumbled and Jaebeom laughed as the steam from the coffee maker curled towards the ceiling. </p><p> </p><p>“I was just teasing you Mark”, Jaebeom said languidly, internally relishing in the way the tip of Mark’s ears turn red as he hears the roll of his name off Jaebeom’s tongue. </p><p> </p><p>“So, where’s Yugyeom? Why are you working all alone today?” </p><p> </p><p>“He has finals coming up so I offered to do this week in exchange that he does my week when it’s my turn for exams”, Mark said as he turned to face Jaebeom, handing him his coffee carefully. </p><p> </p><p>“You know, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve told you this, but you really shouldn’t drink something that strong when it’s late at night. It’s bad for you and you won’t be able to sleep later”. Mark’s words tumbled from his mouth as he glared at the counter. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom couldn’t help the fondness from surging in his chest as he laughed. Mark’s eyes shot up and he fixed his glare on Jaebeom. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m not kidding. Black coffee that strong can cause your heart palpitations to increase and it’ll also delay your circadian clock. You won’t be able to sleep throughout the night and the next day-” </p><p> </p><p>“Mark-yah”. </p><p> </p><p>Mark shut up immediately, his breath hitching as he stared at Jaebeom in shock, because Jaebeom, Jaebeom who didn’t know what had possessed him to do so, had put down his coffee in exchange for running a hand through Mark’s messy brown hair. </p><p> </p><p>Time seemed to still. </p><p> </p><p>The locks were soft to the touch, and Jaebeom’s hand froze. He was so close to Mark that he could practically feel Mark’s warm exhale against his cheek, smell the mixture of coffee and body wash from Mark’s clothes. Mark’s eyes were glinting in the warm lighting, his lips parted slightly. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom hastily retracted his hand, picked up his coffee cup with his right and stuffed his left into the pocket of his jacket. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be fine so stop worrying okay? More importantly, look out for yourself first. There’s been a number of attacks in this area and it doesn’t seem like the police are anywhere near catching the guy.” </p><p> </p><p>For any normal person, the crushing disappointment which flashed across Mark’s face would have been too quick to catch. Jaebeom’s heart seemed to weigh a million kilos as Mark forced a strained smile.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t have to baby me Jaebeom. I have a pepper spray in my bag and a penknife in my pocket. Anyway, we’ve started closing a whole hour earlier just so the staff can walk out to the main station while the street lights are still on”, Mark’s voice was soft as he looked down towards his sneakers. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom felt horrible. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah but I’m still worried for-”</p><p> </p><p>Just then there was a peal of bells and Jaebeom felt the back of his neck prickle as cold air rushed into the warm cafe. Someone burst into the cafe, panting. Hanging precariously from the person’s shoulder blade was a bulky black carrier. </p><p> </p><p>. </p><p> </p><p>. </p><p> </p><p>. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry but are you still open? The wifi in my grandma’s house died and this is the only place that has a signal. Twice is on M countdown!” The boy huffed as he tried to regain his breath, dropping his haversack onto the ground as he began hastily pulling out a laptop and charger from his backpack. </p><p> </p><p>Mark blinked, before he was moving again, stepping out from behind the counter and pulling his cellphone from his pocket. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah we’re open. Let me just set you up with the password then you can vote for your unnies”. Mark gave the boy a wry smile as his graceful fingers began tapping the screen of his phone.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll see you around Jaebeom. Don’t finish that cup okay?” Mark’s eyes didn’t leave his phone and the dismissal was obvious to Jaebeom. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom felt as if there was a lump stuck in his throat as he muttered a “Yeah. I’ll see you around too” before walking out of the cafe and into the still night. </p><p> </p><p>Outside the cafe, Jaebeom sighed. </p><p> </p><p>The air was cold. </p><p> </p><p>- - - - - - - </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>By the time Twice had finished giving their acceptance speech, and Mark was done cleaning up, it was half past eleven and he was seriously late with closing up the cafe. </p><p> </p><p>He locked the doors with a gloved hand before hastily shoving the keys back into his pocket. The temperature had dropped drastically. It was freezing as Mark finally began the walk towards the station. </p><p> </p><p>Honestly, his day had started out fine. Good even. He had a relatively relaxing morning. He woke up at eight and made himself a breakfast of leftover jjigae from the night before. After that, he went to school, studied a bit, procrastinated a lot, met up with his friends for lunch, went to the library to study some more, and then left for his part time job at six. His first few shifts had gone great. No demanding customers, no complicated drinks and no spillages to clean up after. </p><p> </p><p>The night only started going to shit when Jaebeom appeared. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom was one of his regulars and Mark had noticed him months ago, ever since he started taking night shifts. Jaebeom would usually come in the late evening, when most of the cafe’s customers had left. He tended to wear dark colours, browns and blacks, with the only accessory he had on being a thin silver necklace which was always tucked into his inner shirt. Jaebeom was a polite customer, saying thank you and please when ordering. He had only one coffee order. Americano, double shot, no milk, no sugar. </p><p> </p><p>Mark didn’t know when his infatuation on Jaebeom began, but before he knew it, his appreciation of Jaebeom’s handsome face and polite mannerisms had grown into a full blown crush, heavy and absolutely embarrassing. </p><p> </p><p>Today being a classic example of embarrassing. </p><p> </p><p>Mark wanted to groan. It had taken so long for him to be able to build up the courage to say more than just the banal greetings that he said to every customer. Yugyeom had teased him incessantly the day he decided to write Jaebeom’s name on his cup with a little dog drawing at the side. Despite the teasing, Mark was glad he did it because Jaebeom had taken one look at the dog, laughed and told Mark (in front of a wide eyed Yugyeom) that he really preferred cats over dogs. Since then, Mark had been holding short conversations with Jaebeom. Never too long to become awkward, and never too personal to become intrusive. Once or twice Mark had thought that maybe, just maybe, Jaebeom might like him back too. Yugyeom had helped to feed his unhealthy thoughts by telling him that Jaebeom had a special smile reserved just for Mark, or how he thought Jaebeom’s eyes sparkled whenever he saw Mark. </p><p> </p><p>Today, Mark had almost thought that all his dreams about Jaebeom would come true. When Jaebeom had lifted his hand to pat his head, Mark had frozen. He had been so close to Jaebeom that he could see himself reflected in Jaebeom’s eyes, eyes which had taken on a steely glint, different from their usual carefree and open expression. Mark’s heart had given a traitorous lurch then, beating wildly against his ribcage as he had parted his lips, waiting for the fairytale moment when Jaebeom would bend down and sweep him off his feet. </p><p> </p><p>But Jaebeom, as if having heard the frantic beating of his heart had retracted his hand so fast, almost like he had been scalded. </p><p> </p><p>Mark felt lousy and used. </p><p> </p><p>The only consolation was that Jaebeom had felt bad too, if his miserable expression was anything to go by. </p><p> </p><p>The streetlamps above him flickered and Mark quickened his footsteps. The lights would switch off promptly at midnight, and it was 11.45pm now. But Mark was five minutes away from the station. </p><p> </p><p>A rustling in the bushes caused Mark to still. The rosebush directly in front of him was quivering slightly. Carefully, Mark took a step back, his hand slowly making its way into the back pocket of his pants where he kept his small switchblade. His fingers shook as he gripped the hilt. He pulled the knife out, levelling it evenly with his chest. </p><p> </p><p>From the bush in front of him, out jumped a small black cat, it’s bottle green eyes fixed on Mark. </p><p> </p><p>Mark sighed. He lowered the small blade before pocketing it back into his jeans. </p><p> </p><p>His nerves had been on end the past few days ever since there had been reports of disappearances and mangled bodies found around the estate. There had been no trend in the disappearances and the bodies that were found were rarely intact. The area was said to be patrolled every night since the attacks, but Mark had yet to see a guard car going round the estate. </p><p> </p><p>The cat in front of him meowed, padding it’s way towards Mark. It’s slinky tail curled around Mark’s calf as the cat nuzzled it’s face against his leg. </p><p> </p><p>The cat had striking green eyes and it was a little unnerving the way it seemed to examine his every feature. Mark smiled uneasily before gently detaching himself from the cat and continuing his walk again at breakneck speed. </p><p> </p><p>Above him the lights flickered. </p><p> </p><p>Mark glanced down at his watch. It was only 11.55pm. He was practically metres away from the station. </p><p> </p><p>The lights stopped flickering and Mark was plunged into darkness. </p><p> </p><p>Behind him, he heard the purr of a cat and the crunching of gravel beneath shoes.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>- - - - - - - - </p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Jaebeom was hungry. </p><p> </p><p>The coffee had done little to satiate the gnawing pangs in his stomach. Stumbling from bed, Jaebeom made his way to the small refrigerator tucked away in the corner of his room. He pulled the door of the refrigerator expectantly, only to frown in disappointment. The bottles were empty and the freezer was devoid of meat. </p><p> </p><p>Just my rotten luck, Jaebeom thought gloomily as he slammed the refrigerator door shut. </p><p> </p><p>The last time he had eaten properly had been a month ago when Jinyoung had done a food run with him. Their usual place was too far away if Jaebeom wanted to make it back by morning. Yet, the surrounding areas weren’t good spots for a proper meal. </p><p> </p><p>Besides, Jaebeom couldn’t stomach the thought of eating in an area that Mark resided in. </p><p> </p><p>Mark. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom had screwed up royally today. The moment he had seen Mark’s downcast eyes the regret had coiled in the pit of his stomach like an angry snake. It was obvious that Mark had a crush on him, and Jaebeom would be lying if he said that he didn’t find himself a little fascinated by Mark too. There was something so pure and untainted about Mark’s aura that it had the dark and ugly part inside Jaebeom hesitating and cocking his head in wonder. </p><p> </p><p>It had taken a long time for him to stop examining Mark from behind the counter and to instead start reciprocating the other’s advances. Jaebeom had thought that he would have had to make the first move given how shy Mark seemed to be, but then Mark had gone ahead and surprised him by being brazen enough to doodle on his cup and after that it had been easy for Jaebeom to initiate a proper conversation. </p><p> </p><p>Everything about Mark was different from what Jaebeom was used to. Mark incited in him a confusing mix of emotions and Jaebeom was afraid.  </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom shook his head as he pulled on his long black jacket and stepped out of his apartment, locking the door behind him. </p><p> </p><p>Regardless of what he felt for Mark it would be impossible for him to do anything further to extend their relationship. They would never work out. Jinyoung had made it pretty clear the other day. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“You’re gonna end up killing him”, Jinyoung scoffed as he wrapped his scarf more securely round his neck. It was a performative gesture if anything since neither of them got cold and Jaebeom rolled his eyes at him. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I didn’t say I was going to ask him out or something. I just want to get to know him a little better”, Jaebeom clicked his tongue in annoyance as they waited for the pedestrian light to turn green. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Hyung, you’re contradicting yourself and what’s funny is that you don’t even realise it”, Jinyoung snorted derisively, before winking at the blushing high school girl on the other side of the road. The girl promptly hid her flaming face with her hair and if Jaebeom had rolled his eyes any further they would have gotten stuck at the back of his head. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“You’re one to talk”, Jaebeom muttered angrily under his breath, kicking at the pebbles along the sidewalk. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Jaebeom”. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The harshness in Jinyoung’s voice had Jaebeom tensing and looking back towards his friend. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“I’m serious. It would be another thing if this was a fling. But from the way it sounds”, Jinyoung fixed him with a grim expression, “you’ll be in too deep to extract yourself from this relationship. And you can take it from me first hand. These things never end well”. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jinyoung’s voice had spoken of nothing but raw grief and pain, and the pair had remained silent for the rest of their walk. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom exhaled, his breath coming out in a puff of smoke. The temperature was much colder than it had been when he was out earlier. Jaebeom stepped out into the silent street. Something furry was suddenly sidling in between his legs, its warm body pressing tightly against his ankle. Jaebeom smiled affectionately as he looked down at the orange and white pet tabby that was now purring in contentment as its tail swished about Jaebeom’s calf. </p><p> </p><p>Jaebeom knelt down, scratching the cat behind it’s ears. The bell round the cat’s throat jingled as it meowed at Jaebeom, its whiskers twitching. Jaebeom grinned as he picked up the cat and tucked it securely under his arm.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re the best babe”, Jaebeom whispered to the cat as his muscles tensed and he took off, soundless into the silent night. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>- - - - - - - </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Mark could feel his muscles spasming as he thudded back onto the ground. His heart constricted painfully in his chest. He couldn’t breathe. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you done playing, little mouse? Your ribs are already broken so if you’re not careful they could pierce your lungs”. There was a melodic tilt in the man’s voice, and although Mark couldn’t make him out in the darkness, he knew that his predator was smiling at him. </p><p> </p><p>Mark’s vision swam as he struggled to sit upright. His chest felt like it was on fire and every breath hurt. </p><p> </p><p>“It was a real pleasant surprise bumping into you. I was expecting to go home with some tough and rotten tasting old man meat, but instead I got a real delicacy which practically strolled into my path”. The man laughed and blind terror flashed through Mark as he pressed his back flat against the shuttered store front.  </p><p> </p><p>“There’s something different about your scent. It’s not as appealing as some of the other fragrances I’ve had before but it’s still very intriguing”. </p><p> </p><p>The air in front of Mark twitched slightly and suddenly something hard was striking him across the face. The </p><p>force with which he was struck caused Mark’s head to smash against the metal store front, the resounding crack of metal ringing through the night. Mark’s vision swam with red, the corners blurring dangerously as tears pin pricked his eyes. Something warm and wet was trickling down his neck, down his forehead, down from his nose. Mark tasted salt and iron on his tongue.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no! Please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know you’ll still be very very tasty…” The man trailed off, his voice sympathetic as he finally came into Mark’s field of vision. </p><p> </p><p>Mark thought he must have been hallucinating as he stared hard at the thick purple shell that encased the man’s right arm. The shell itself was twitching furiously and he watched in a mixture of horror and amazement as the shell seemed to grow larger and larger, extending past the man’s arm and into a large hammer, larger than Mark’s entire torso. </p><p> </p><p>The man’s face was hidden by an ornate white mask, the nose of the mask pointed outwards like the graceful slope of a bird’s beak. The mask, too, was royal purple in colour and had gold piping along the eye and mouth holes. From the eyehole of the mask, red eyes surrounded by black sclera gleamed back at him.</p><p> </p><p>The strangled scream that had been working it’s way up Mark’s throat died as he stared in horror at those red eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Ghoul.</p><p> </p><p>It made a lot of sense now, the disappearances, the mangled bodies which couldn’t possibly have been dismembered using human tools. Yet none of the bodies had been found with traces of ghoul fluid and ghouls were practically extinct in South Korea. According to news reports, the last surviving ghouls had fled from the cities and into the mountains where they wouldn’t be caught by exterminators. </p><p> </p><p>Mark coughed wetly, his hands scrambling across the ground as he tried in a last ditch attempt to get onto his feet. </p><p> </p><p>“Poor mousey, still fighting so hard”, the ghoul tutted, it’s purple extension swishing slowly from left to right. From behind it, the black cat with green eyes padded forward towards its owner, pawing and meowing against the ghoul’s ankle. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, yes honey but it’s really fun watching him struggle all over the place. I can’t help playing with my food especially when they’re such willing participants”, the ghoul cooed down to the cat as Mark fought down the urge to vomit, his entire body shaking. </p><p> </p><p>The cat hissed, pawing at the ghoul’s ankle more insistently before glaring at Mark who had managed to rise unsteadily onto his knees before he doubled over, almost landing face first into the ground. </p><p> </p><p>“Goodness, I hadn’t even noticed”, the ghoul mused as it’s eyes flickered back to Mark. </p><p> </p><p>Mark coughed again, whimpering as blood splattered onto the cool asphalt in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t remember giving you permission to get up”. </p><p> </p><p>The ghoul’s voice was cold and the first scream had barely ripped it’s way past Mark’s throat before he was slammed back into the concrete, the bones in his arms and legs broken as he lay curled up on his side. </p><p> </p><p>By now, Mark’s entire vision was tinged with red and everything was hazy. He couldn’t make out the pool of blood that was spreading slowly out from his head. The gooey and wet feeling was the only indicator to him that he was bleeding. The burning pain had intensified. The pain was like a flame eating at his insides, devouring his flesh, chewing on his bones and sucking out the marrow. </p><p> </p><p>“Oops I think we got his spine too…” The voice trailed off as Mark slowly registered that the ghoul was now kneeling right in front of him, his fingers playing in the swirl of blood by Mark’s head. </p><p> </p><p>“Your scent really is special you know”, the ghoul said softly as he sucked on a bloodied finger. </p><p> </p><p>“Now that I’m tasting you, you’re not anything different from the other humans I’ve tasted. A little fresher than normal but that’s probably just because you’re young”, the ghoul mused as Mark tried to focus his eyes on the ghoul’s cat which was now lapping his blood and purring. </p><p> </p><p>“But your scent... I’ve never smelt someone so clean before”, the ghoul’s voice had taken on a wistful tone as he rocked backwards on his heels. </p><p> </p><p>“The purity of it was enough to drown out something I hadn’t noticed until kura pointed it out”, the ghoul was now stroking Mark’s hair, softly and carefully, as if Mark was something precious. </p><p> </p><p>“Underneath that human smell there’s a kind of salty aftertaste. If I didn’t know better I would say that it’s probably sweat or some other bodily fluid you’re secreting. But as it is”, the ghoul’s voice sounded much closer than before now, “there’s the scent mark of a ghoul under the thin layer of your skin”, the ghoul breathed. </p><p> </p><p>“So tell me,” Mark gasped as the ghoul suddenly wrenched a fist full of Mark’s hair and was hauling him up to eye level with the ghoul’s glowing red eyes. </p><p> </p><p>“Tell me which ghoul you belong to and how a little bitch like you managed to seduce a ghoul into covering up your scent”, the ghoul snarled, his fingernails digging into Mark’s scalp. “Tell me how a ghoul managed to stop himself from feeding on you!” The ghoul screamed, his glowing purple hammer hurtling straight for the final blow. </p><p> </p><p>Mark closed his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>The blow never came. </p><p> </p><p>Mark’s head thudded onto the ground. His ears were still ringing but he could hear shrill screams piercing the air. But Mark was so tired he could barely even crack an eye open, let alone open his mouth to scream. </p><p> </p><p>So who was making those ugly, guttural sounds? </p><p> </p><p>Everything was hazy and his vision now seemed to favour black over red but Mark could vaguely make out a figure in front of him, a figure which was flailing desperately, it’s limbs contorting in impossible angles. There seemed to be a red blanket wrapped around the torso of the figure, and judging from the hands which were scratching desperately against the thick blanket, the blanket had to be very uncomfortable, Mark thought stupidly. </p><p> </p><p>The blanket coiled itself tighter against the squirming figure, twisting and squeezing even as the figure screamed and thrashed violently. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>SPLAT</em>
</p><p> </p><p>It had started raining blood and fleshy matter, spongy intestines flopping to the ground and thick, heavy brain matter dripping down the meat of the blanket. </p><p> </p><p>In the hazy distance, Mark watched the red blanket swishing in the air. Now that he was no longer distracted by the ugly mess of a being in front of him, Mark could make out that the blanket wasn’t really hovering in thin air after all. Instead, the blanket was connected to a blurry figure ahead of him. The figure was running towards Mark, but try as he did, for the life of him, Mark couldn’t get himself to focus on the figure. Everything was dim and it took too much effort to even open his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“-k! Mark!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Someone was screaming his name, and Mark wondered woozily why there seemed to be feather light touches everywhere. Against his hair, his face, his arms, his legs, even his feet. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Stay awake! You’re not fucking dying on me!” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The anger and desperation in the voice made Mark’s heart ache, but try as he might Mark’s tongue felt like lead and he couldn’t bring himself to talk through the mouthful of blood as much as he wanted to. It felt like there were hooks beneath his eyelids which were attached to weights, but Mark fought against the enormous pressure to crack his eyes open. </p><p> </p><p>He was staring at a face. A face that was so beautifully handsome, perfectly beautiful even as the expression it bore was twisted in devastation and distress. It was too perfect to be a human’s face. It had to be an angel, Mark thought feverishly. He had died and gone to heaven. But if it was heaven, why was everything still so painful?</p><p> </p><p>The angel’s lips were moving fast, so fast that Mark knew he wouldn’t be able to catch a single word, even if the ringing in his ears had subsided. Perhaps the angel above him recognised that Mark couldn’t comprehend a single word that he was saying because the angel's lips went still, and suddenly the angel was weeping, it’s tears sliding down the elegant swoop of it’s nose and dripping steadily onto Mark’s face. </p><p> </p><p>Mark felt his heart constrict. He had done something to make the angel sad. </p><p> </p><p><em>I’m sorry</em>, Mark thought, as he summoned his last bit of energy to reach out a shaky hand towards the angel. His hand brushed against the smooth expanse of skin, warm to the touch and damp beneath his fingertips. The angel stopped weeping, staring instead with wonder at Mark’s hand which had come to shakily cup the angel’s face. </p><p> </p><p>I’m sorry I made you cry, Mark wanted to say but as it is, he couldn’t because the pain in his arm, the pain in his entire body was suddenly too great, and Mark felt like he was burning, blue flames and heat causing him to writhe in pure agony, his hand dropping to the ground. </p><p> </p><p>Mark could no longer keep his eyes open. </p><p> </p><p>The raging fire burned on and on, smouldering, charring, scorching his insides. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I’m sorry I made you cry, Jaebeom. </em>
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